World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few years ago, Rach found this recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It was titled World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. Well, I'm here to tell you that they are! We LOVE this recipe and everyone that tries it loves it too. There are a few important details that make it the best, so read closely.

1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup (2 cubes) real butter, softened to room temp.
2 eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 3/4 cups flour
1 package Ghirarrdeli Milk Chocolate Chips
1/2 package Ghirarrdeli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Mix brown sugar and white sugar until combined.  Add butter and mix on a higher speed for a couple of minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well and then add dry ingredients. Mix well again and then add the chocolate chips. Drop golf-ball size dough onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 11 minutes. Cookies might not look done but take them out anyways. Let them sit on the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

(different ovens may vary from 10-12 minutes)

*You can also do 2 cups flour and 2 cups oats.

*You could also spread all the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 17-20 minutes for bars.

*Disclaimer: If you end up eating the whole bowl of cookie dough it's not my fault. It's really good! (that was mostly for Shalae)

Patty Larson's Chicken Taco Filling

1 Tbs. butter

1 small onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 4oz. can diced green chiles

3 tomatoes diced

1 can chicken

*Melt butter in pan. Add onions and garlic and sautee until onions are clear. Add last three ingredients. Mix really well and let heat through.

* Helpful hints: We make burritos and tacos with this mix and it is so easy and yummy. You can used regular chicken, too. It doesn't have to be canned. Just cook it and shred it ahead of time.

DARN COMPUTER & BREAD PUDDING

I told you I was having issues with my new computer. I finally figured out how to post pictures, but in all my frustration I deleted the pictures I had of Pork Verde Tacos and Salsa. I'll make them again soon and post. I promise!!

Meanwhile, Megan came over and INSISTED that we find a recipe for Bread Pudding. Well - I just happen to have a good one that I don't make very often and you'll see why. It's definitely NOT low fat. You will think you died and went to heaven when you eat it though!

BREAD PUDDING

1/2 loaf of 1 1/2 lb. loaf of bread (I use Grandma Sycamore's White Bread)

2 c. half-and-half

1 cube butter (not margarine)

4 eggs

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/4 t. nutmeg

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9x9 square pan. Break bread into pieces and let get a little dry while preparing other ingredients. Break each slice into about 6 pieces. Not too small. Warm butter in half-and-half just until melted. Don't heat the milk too much or it will cook the eggs when they are added. Beat eggs and add sugar. Mix well and add vanilla. Stir in milk and butter. Mix the bread into the egg mixture with your hands so that the bread gets thoroughly soaked. Sprinkle the nutmeg and cinnamon in the mixture. Mix gently so the bread doesn't break up too much. Pour mixture into buttered pan and place on an old cookie sheet to bake. It puffs up a lot and the butter sometimes makes your oven messy. Bake for 40 minutes until a knife comes out fairly clean. Let cool and serve with whipped cream and berries. It's best when served warm but is also good cold and you can warm it in the microwave if it's leftover. I used fresh berries but I think Cracker's uses frozen and lets them thaw. They are just as good.

Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups flour

1 cup milk

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

*Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add the rest of ingredients. Spoon into greased muffin tin and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

*Helpful hint: Blueberries are only 99 cents right now at Superstition Ranch Market.

NEW COMPUTER, AAAARGH!!!

I got a new computer and it is making me CRAZY!!! I have new posts and pictures if I can figure out how to GET THIS COMPUTER TO LET ME POST THE PICTURES!!! Hopefully soon - if not - I want my old computer back. I like old things...don't you?

Asparagus Pasta Salad

Asparagus Pasta Salad

-1 box Bow tie pasta
-Steamed Asparagus
-Bake teriyaki chicken
-put sauce on chicken breast (about 3 chicken breast-)and bake for hour.
-Glazed pecans
(1/3 cup brown sugar, ½ t salt, ¼ cup butter, 1/8 cup corn syrup. Boil add one pound pecans then bake for an hour at 250 on parchment paper, stir every 20 min for an hour
-1 bottle Brianna’s Ginger Mandarin dressing
I also put in.……..
-Spanish leafs
-Swiss cheese squares
-sun dried tomatoes
-really whatever you think sounds good.

Chocolate Molten Cake

Well I know this isn't the best picture but these really are so tasty. I had this dessert at Bravo! and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since so I tried a couple different recipes but this one turned out the best.
Ingredients:

* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* ¼ teaspoon salt
* 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (4 ounces coarsely chopped, 1 ounce very finely chopped)
* 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
* 2 large eggs, at room temperature
* 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
* 6 tablespoons of sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. butter (or spray – it’s easier) 6 cups of a regular-size muffin pan, preferably a disposable aluminum foil pan, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Put the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir occasionally over the simmering water just until they are melted – you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogenous. Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don’t beat) them into the eggs. Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle the finely chopped chocolate over the batter.
Bake the cakes for 13 minutes. Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)
Line a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or parchment or wax paper, and, after the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto the board. Use a wide metal spatula to lift the cakes onto dessert plates.


Even more delish topped with this homemade hot fudge!

Hot Fudge
2 cups sugar
4 T coco
4 T flour
Stir in pan on low heat.
Add one can evaporated milk. Then add 4 T butter bring to rolling boil for 2 min. Take off heat and then add 2 teas vanilla.

Recipe Correction

In the "Baked Spaghetti" recipe I posted a while ago, I accidentally put tomato sauce and it's actually tomato soup. And on the two dessert recipes below, I'm not sure why the ingredients are double-spaced. I couldn't get it to change to single.

Dinner and Dessert

Chicken and Broccoli Bake

4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

1 large head of fresh broccoli, florets and a little stem chopped off

16 oz. cream cheese

2 cups milk

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp. salt

1 clove minced garlic

*Combine the last 5 ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Spray a 9X13 with cooking spray. Layer broccoli pieces, 1/2 the sauce, chicken pieces, rest of the sauce, and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

*Helpful hint: We will eat this with baked potatoes next time to balance out the rich sauce. If you like alfredo sauce, you'll like this dish. Easy and yummy!

Rich Yellow Cake

2/3 cup butter, softened at room temp.

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

*Cream butter and sugar. Add the rest of ingredients and mix well. Bake in 9X13 at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or on a cookie sheet for 25 minutes. Very yummy for Strawberry shortckake!

Coconut oatmeal cookies

2 cubes butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups quick oatmeal

1 bag mini chocolate chips (regular works too)

1 cup coconut

*Cream butter and sugars. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Mix well, then add oatmeal, chocolate chips and coconut. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Cafe Rio Chicken

I found a recipe for the Cafe Rio Chicken in my ward cookbook from Wisconsin. I don't know that it really is the Cafe Rio recipe but it sure is good! It was very easy too. We made tacos with the chicken and they were delicious! I bought some dressing at Rio to put on the tacos and it made them extra tasty. Also, I halved the recipe but you could make the full recipe then freeze whatever chicken you don't use to make something later. Enjoy!

5 lbs. boneless chicken breasts

1 small bottle Italian dressing

1 Tbls. chili powder

1 Tbls. cumin

3-4 cloves garlic minced

Put in crockpot and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. Shred and serve.

BANANA CAKE

The key to this recipe is putting the cake in the freezer right after you take it out of the oven. It makes the cake soooo moist!! You'll love it, I promise. And notice that you bake it at a very low temperature - 275. It's not a typo.

3/4 c. butter (1 1/2 cubes)

2 1/8 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla

3 c. flour

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 c. buttermilk (or add 2 T. vinegar to fresh milk, let sit a minute)

1 1/2 c. ripe mashed bananas

Preheat oven to 275. Cream butter, sugar and eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in a seperate bowl. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the egg/sugar mixture. Mix well and add bananas last. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Bake for 1 hour. May look like it's not quite done so bake for maybe 5 min. longer (not longer than 5 min.) Remove from oven and place immediately in your freezer. I place a dish cloth on top of whatever I'm sitting the cake on so the heat doesn't melt it in your freezer. Leave in the freezer for 45 minutes. Remove and frost with:

1/2 c. butter

1 8 oz. package softened cream cheese

3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

vanilla

Mix well and spread on cooled cake. Add nuts on top if you like. You can also place nuts in the batter of the cake if you wish. It's really yummy!

Hootenanny Pancakes

1/4 cup butter

1 cup flour

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp. salt

*Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put butter in 9X13 pan an melt in oven. In a blender, combine flour, eggs, milk and salt. Blend just until mixed together. Pour into 9X13. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve with syrup and powdered sugar.

*Helpful hint: Watch the butter closely while melting it. It burns pretty fast.

SOUR CREAM CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

1 doz. corn tortillas

Oil for frying (I use canola)

Soften tortillas in hot oil. Don't fry crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside to cool.

Sauce:

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 15 oz. can green chile enchilada sauce

1 c. sour cream

Filling:

2 cans or 2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1/8 c. finely chopped green onion

1 can diced green chile

Small amount of diced fresh cilantro

1/4 c. shredded cheese

2-3 large spoons of above sauce

Coarse black pepper to taste

If using canned chicken, drain well and add other ingredients. Spread small amount of sauce in bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Place 2-3 T. filling in each tortilla and roll. Place seam side down in dish. Spread sauce on top. This recipe makes PLENTY of sauce so you may have a little left over. Spread the top with cheese (I prefer Mexican blend) and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted. You can also make this in layers instead of rolling the enchiladas. Place half the tortillas flat in bottom of dish, spread half chicken filling, half the sauce and top with cheese. Repeat layers and bake.

Baked Spaghetti

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 can tomato soup

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. sugar

12 oz. Angel Hair pasta

shredded cheese

*Brown hamburger, add sauce, soup, seasoning and sugar. Mix well and warm through. Boil pasta until tender. Put a little sauce in bottom of 9X13. Layer 1/2 the noodles, 1/2 the cheese, 1/2 the sauce. Then layer in same order one more time. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

*Helpful hint: I've tried mozarella cheese, Mexican blend, and plain cheddar. They all worked well and tasted good. Use as much cheese as you like.

Favorite Pancakes

LeSueur Family Wheat Pancakes

4 cups whole wheat flour

3 Tbs. baking powder

2 1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup +1 Tbs. sugar

3 eggs

3 cups milk

1/2 cup +1 Tbs. oil

*Mix the dry ingredients together. Add eggs, milk and oil. Stir until smooth. Cook on low to medium heat and only flip once.

*Helpful hints: I sometimes need to add a little more milk than it says. This recipe makes a lot. We freeze them in ziploc bags and warm them up in microwave or toaster. You can see how Emery likes to eat them, but syrup works fine, too.

Stir Fry

1 pound Chicken
3 T soy sauce
½ t ground ginger
3 T oil
1 ½ cups sliced carrots
1 ½ cups broccoli
1 ½ cups pea pods (I didn’t have pea pods so I used celery instead)
4-6 green onions cut in ½ in length
1 four ounce mushrooms with juice
½ cup cold water
2 T cornstarch
½ t sugar

Combine meat with soy and ginger and let it stand for 15 to 30 min. Preheat 1 T oil in wok uncover at med high about 2 min. Add carrots, stir fry for 2 min, add the mushroom liquid over and steam for 4 min. Remove carrots. Heat one T oil in wok, add broccoli and pea pods(celery), stir-fry for 2 min, push up to the side, add onions and mushrooms stir fry to 2 min push up to the side. Heat another T of oil add ½ of the meat and stir fry for 2-3 min push up the side and repeat with remaining meat.
Add carrots. In separate cup add water cornstarch and sugar. Stir into meat and cook into mixture. Serve over rice or noodles.

Baked Ham and Swiss Sandwiches

These delicious sandwiches are perfect for parties and showers. My husband loves them so I make them often for dinner. Very easy and very good! Even good as leftovers the next day!

1 package Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (I buy the wheat ones)
1 package thin sliced honey ham
1 package sliced swiss cheese
1 cube butter
2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Slice rolls in half and place 2 pieces of ham on each. Tear cheese slices into 4 squares and then place 2 squares on each sandwich. Close sandwich and place them in 9x13 pan. Melt cube of butter then add Worcestershire sauce and poppy seeds and stir. Spoon sauce over sandwiches. Bake covered at 350 for 20 min. Uncover and bake 5 more min.

BEST EVER POTATO SALAD

This potato salad is the BEST EVER!! The key is the mixture of Miracle Whip AND Mayonnaise and the sweet pickle juice. Don't use any substitutes and don't gross out. It is so tasty. DOES NOT WORK WITH DILL PICKLES!!6 large potatoes

6 eggs

Boil potatoes covered with water until done.

Boil eggs until done.

Cool both.

Cube potatoes and chop eggs. Finely chop 1/4 cup sweet pickles. Mix together

Dressing:

3/4 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup Miracle Whip

1/8 cup mustard

1 t. onion salt

1 t. celery salt

1/8 cup sweet pickle juice

2 T. sugar

Pepper to taste

Mix together and mix into potatoes and eggs. Refrigerate for several hours. Tastes best made several hours ahead.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

These sugar cookies are always a hit! I love to make them for holidays. The sour cream makes them so soft and tasty.
Sugar Cookie
1 cup butter softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
6 cups flour
Cream butter, sugar, and eggs, then add sour cream and vanilla. Blend in soda, salt, baking powder and flour. Chill dough for 4 hours or overnight. Then, roll out on floured surface and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 350 for 15 min.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 box powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese softened
1 tsp. vanilla
little bit of milk
food coloring if desired
Mix until spreading consistency.

Ritz Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 egg
little bit of milk
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
Parmesan cheese

Mix egg and milk in shallow dish. Crush crackers in ziploc bag then add cheese to crackers. Dip chicken in egg mixture to coat then in cracker mixture to coat. Place in 9x13 pan. Top each chicken breast with a dollup of butter. Bake at 350 for 30 min or until chicken is done. I like to serve with rice and veggies.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Combine:

2 cups strawberries (mashed or blended)

4 cups sugar

*Stir together and let sit for 10 minutes.

Bring to a boil:

3/4 cup water

1 package Sure-Gel (stir while boiling one minute)

*Add the Sure-Gel mixture to the strawberries and stir for 3 minutes.

Pour into containers, put on lids, and let sit out for 24 hours. Then freeze.

*Helpful hints: Start your water boiling when there is about 3 minutes left on the strawberry mixture. Then you'll be ready to add it when it has been 10 minutes. We use small, disposable, containers. Try not to let the 4 cups of sugar freak you out...it's worth it!